


Casual Working Affair

by RainbowArches



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Dom!May, Dom/sub, F/M, Sub!Mack
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-30
Updated: 2015-07-30
Packaged: 2018-04-12 03:29:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,599
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4463774
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RainbowArches/pseuds/RainbowArches
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Snippets of their relationship.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Casual Working Affair

Melinda was glad for the hotel room for Mack’s sake. He finally had a bed big enough to stretch out in. The bunks at the base were big enough for Melinda, but Mack had to curl up if he didn’t want his feet dangling over the edge. This way they could actually _sleep_ together and not just “sleep” together. Assuming Melinda untied him when they were done. Maybe if he behaved himself.

Melinda flicked at his wrists when he pulled against the bonds. He was only testing them, but she had just told him to keep still.

“Sorry,” he said.

“Hush,” she scolded, not ungently. She tugged on the knot, making a show of tightening it further even though the bonds were as snug as they could be without cutting off his circulation. They couldn’t get any tighter, but he got the point.

“Do you remember your safe word?”

They didn’t really need a safe word, but they liked to cover their bases. Their taste in games was pretty vanilla, but there was no telling what might set each other off after a bad day. Mack had once panicked about being left alone in his room while Melinda went to retrieve something from hers. Melinda had once felt guilty to the point of tears for paddling him even though it was consensual and they’d done it twice before. They’d caught on before the safe word was necessary, but it hadn’t made them careless by any means.

“Mm-hm.”

Melinda raised an eyebrow.

“Yes, ma’am.”

Melinda straddled his waist and lowered herself onto him. Mack clenched in an effort to keep his hips still.

“Don’t come,” she ordered.

 

Andrew’s fiancée was a brilliant, no-nonsense woman who smiled a lot and who would probably take in every abandoned dog she could get her hands on if Andrew weren’t allergic. Andrew invited Melinda to dinner but Tracy invited her to the wedding. Melinda politely declined, but Tracy looked genuinely disappointed and had pressed, so Melinda gave in.

“I think she has a crush on you,” Andrew said when he and Melinda were alone. “Not that I blame her. Just promise you two will let me down easy.”

“Are you sure I’m welcome? Do you really want me at your wedding? You didn’t put her up to asking, did you?”

Andrew laughed. “Did it sound like I put her up to asking? Trust me, we both want you there. You’re our friend.”

Melinda pushed down any further protests. “Okay. You realize you’re more likely to get crashed by SHIELD by having me there, right?”

“I’m sure we can handle it.”

“Well, I’ll try to keep your reception free from interruptions at least.”

“I appreciate that.”

 

“How did it go?”

Mack had decided to wait up for her, even though Melinda told him not to. He couldn’t sleep, he said. He didn’t elaborate and Melinda didn’t ask. She sat next to him on the couch and coaxed him into a lying position, his head in her lap and his feet crossed on the armrest.

“I wasn’t worried about him and I didn’t need to be. Turns out I didn’t need to worry about his fiancée either.”

“He’s engaged?”

Melinda raised her eyebrows at his tone. “You sound relieved. Were you worried?”

“No.”

Melinda stared him down.

Mack turned away so that he was explaining to the wall instead of her face. “All you said was you were having dinner with your ex-husband. I wasn’t sure what to expect.”

Melinda rubbed circles into his chest. “We agreed this was a casual thing.”

“I know.”

“Are you having second thoughts?”

“No.”

“Then why were you jealous?”

“I wasn’t.”

Melinda rolled her eyes. She and Mack hadn’t known each other that well before they started this thing. To her, Mack had been the gentle, honest, level-headed big brother who hung out with Fitz and Bobbi all the time. She had discovered hidden dimensions to him since then. The man could pout, for one thing. And he seemed to honestly believe that he never got jealous.

“It’s okay if you get a little jealous, as long as you don’t get stupid.”

“I’m not jealous,” he mumbled.

“Sure.”

She continued rubbing his chest. Eventually he rolled over so that his face was in her stomach. He had to curl uncomfortable so that all of him fit on the couch, but he didn’t seem to mind.

“We can’t sleep here,” she warned.

“Mm-hm.”

 

Melinda preferred not to explore the origins of her need to dominate someone in the bedroom. It hadn’t come up much with Andrew. They’d been playful and flirtatious but not particularly kinky. They’d liked it that way. And then Bahrain happened and she’d lost interest in just about everything. And then Tahiti happened and at first she’d felt angry all the time, and then she felt tired all the time. Ward had been a convenient handsome young man, as good a release as any, she supposed. Something to do other than stare at the ceiling all night. She just fell into it, bossing him around, calling all the shots. It was fun. He certainly enjoyed it. Of course, after certain revelations, she felt sick thinking about how much fun they’d had.

At least with Mack they got all the secrets out of the way before taking that kind of interest in each other. She knew who Mack was, that was the important thing. And she respected him. Even when SHIELD had nearly crumbled for the second time with Mack on the other side, she knew who he was and she could respect him. She could put her anger aside. Ward had hurt, more than she cared to admit.

“Eyes on me,” she commanded.

Mack shut his eyes to keep them from darting back to the doorway. Melinda supposed this was an acceptable alternative, though it annoyed her because that’s not what she told him to do.

“Keep your hands behind your back.”

Mack’s arms twitched as he stopped them from reaching for Melinda’s legs. She could tell he was uncomfortable. He kept shifting his weight from knee to knee, kept tightening his hands behind his back, kept glancing at the doorway. He hadn’t been on the floor that long, his balance was just fine, and everyone was sound asleep so there was no risk of someone walking in on them. He must be new at this, she thought with a smirk. But he hadn’t used his safe word or uttered a word of complaint, so she didn’t call it off.

Once she caught her breath she straightened up and stroked his scalp, smiling. “Good boy,” she said.

He took that as permission to relax, which it was. She put her pants back on while he found a more comfortable position to sit in and rolled his neck, working out the kinks. She crouched in front of him and wiped a spot from his lip with her thumb. She kissed him.

He pulled away with a sigh.

She frowned. “Everything okay?”

“I need to stand up.”

She huffed a laugh and stood up. He stood up too and stretch, back cracking. “God. I must be getting old.”

Melinda scowled. “I hate it when people younger than me think they’re getting old. Makes me feel old.”

“Heh. Sorry. Not all of us can stay thirty forever.”

She raised an eyebrow, giving him a once-over. “Look who’s talking.”

Mack tried to stifle a yawn behind his hand. Melinda took pity on him and looped a finger through one of the belt loops on his jeans. “Come on,” she said, leading him out of the kitchen. “Bedtime.”

 

“Do you think people are catching on?” Mack asked.

It was a nice quiet day and the team decided to take the opportunity to have a barbeque outside. Melinda jerked her head up when Mack spoke, the closest to a startled jump that anyone would get from her. She’d been fantasizing about having him kneel in front of her, right here with the whole team around, while she fed him. That would be a little much, she decided, but she could dream.

“Who? Onto what?”

“The team, about us.”

“Why? Would it bother you?”

Mack shrugged.

“They probably know something’s going on,” Melinda said.

“You two couldn’t be more obvious,” Skye said as she passed by.

Mack blushed.

Melinda smirked. “See? They’re spies. Of course they know. They also know that we’re mature enough not to let it get in the way and the rest is none of their business. Right?”

“Right.”

She nudged his foot with hers under the picnic table and he smiled reassuringly.

“We done with the relationship talk for the day?”

Mack blinked. “Well, I did want to re-evaluate our stance on casual, but you just said the word relationship so I guess now we don’t have to.”

Melinda cringed inwardly and fought down her blush. “I didn’t mean… let’s save that talk for tonight, okay?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

He went back to his supper and didn’t say anything more. She hoped he didn’t take it the wrong way. She also felt like they need to re-evaluate their initial decision, but she definitely had no plans to call it off. She worried about moving into relationship territory; that didn’t appeal to her just yet. But casual was definitely the wrong word for what they had.

Her foot sought his out again. He tapped her ankle with the toe of his shoe in understanding, meeting her eyes briefly.

“I think Coulson wants you at the grill,” he said.

She sighed. “Be right back.”


End file.
